Sunday 11 August 1940

Sunday 11 August 1940

Heavy attack on Portland, feints by fighter formations over Dover. Convoy attacks in Thames Estuary and off East Anglia.

Night: Harassing attacks on Merseyside. Minelaying.

Weather: Fair in morning, cloudy for most of the day.

Main Activity:

At 0830 hours, seventeen Bf 110 fighter-bombers from Erprobungsgruppe 210 crossed the Channel and bombed Dover Harbour. Little damage was done but three barrage balloons were shot down by the Bf 109 escort. Spitfires of No. 74 Squadron were vectored to the scene and met Bf 109s from JG 51 head-on, losing one aircraft. Meanwhile, Spitfires of No. 64 Squadron engaged Bf 109s of I/JG 2 over Bognor Regis and destroyed two German fighters for no loss.

At about 1030 hours, a large formation comprising fifty-four Ju 88s from I & III/KG 54 and twenty Heinkel He 111s of KG 27, escorted by sixty-one Bf 110s from I & II/ZG 2 and about thirty Bf 109s of III/JG 2, approached the Royal Navy base at Portland and Weymouth. Hurricanes from Nos. 1, 145, 87, 213, and 238 Squadrons along with Spitfires from Nos. 152 and 609 Squadrons were scrambled to intercept. In the ensuing combat, eighteen German aircraft were destroyed for the loss of seventeen British fighters. Two oil storage tanks at Portland were bombed and set on fire. Several ships were also damaged.

At 1148 hours, Bf 110 fighter-bombers from Erprobungsgruppe 210 and Do 17s from 9./KG 2, escorted by Bf 110s of ZG 26, attacked the convoy codenamed BOOTY off Harwich, hitting two freighters. Hurricanes of Nos. 17 and 85 Squadrons together with Spitfires of No. 74 Squadron intercepted the raid, shooting down four German aircraft and damaging several others. Three British fighters were also lost and another damaged. As the enemy aircraft withdrew, another raid comprising Do 17s from II & III/KG 2 and Ju 87s from II/StG 1 & IV/LG 1, escorted by Bf 109s of JG 26, attacked a convoy in the Thames Estuary, damaging several ships. Hurricanes of No. 111 Squadron and Spitfires of No. 74 Squadron were scrambled to intercept. A Ju 87 and Bf 109 were shot down for the loss of five Hurricanes.

Messerschmitt Bf 110C-6 (2N+ SH) of 1./ErprGr 210. During 1940, Erprobungsgruppe 210 was the only Bf 110 unit to operate the C-6, the version that carried a 30mm MG 101 Kanone in place of the standard 2x20mm weapons.